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HE SAID: Remember that old song, “A Boy Named Sue,” about a father giving his son that name so he would grow up tough? That theme is being played out in the political arena.
Campaign organizers believe the Republican primary circus will make their candidate the toughest guy on the block so he will be unbeatable. It's amazing how they are attacking each other without restraint. The fact that the Republicans running for office cannot agree on some common ideas and plans underscores why we, as a nation, are having trouble finding common grounds for solutions.
SHE SAID: I have a possible allegory that could apply to this problem. Another national struggle is our health. Our bodies are natural recyclers. Autophagy or “self-eating” describes the process by which our body rids itself of surplus, worn-out or malformed cellular scrap. Those cast-offs fuel the rest of the body.
Exercise and lean diets can speed up this recycling which researchers are finding can aid in fighting disease and slowing the process of aging. Free radicals, oxygen-rich molecules, can be created in worn-out mitochondria. These free radicals are found to be one of the driving forces of aging.
Our nation, much like an unhealthy body, has created an abundance of “free radicals” or individuals and groups that wish to over power or destroy anything to which they take exception. As a result of their ignorance, these battles are destroying the nation. To bring back health, both economic and political, these rogue cells need to be educated or starved out. We do that with lifestyle changes. Instead of conducting political races the same way, or distributing the wealth in the same way, we need to make changes in the indulgent lifestyle of the past. We need to trim the excesses and extras, exercising our minds and wills to rejuvenate both our bodies and government.
HE SAID: I met recently with people who are much smarter than I who discussed the economy. Most agreed we need to have fewer excesses. None had a simple answer like balance the budget, or create more jobs, or spend more money. The solution isn't just cutting taxes, or taxing the rich, or paying more unemployment. One accountant said he is telling his clients that we all have to cut back, retrench and learn how to handle the much slower growth predicted for our future.
That is sound advice, just like exercise and a strict diet. However, politicians are not calling for us to do the individual economic exercises that we all need to help us survive. They want us to spend more to help the economy, but the debt that creates is just like the “free radicals” that our body creates — poison to the person who has too much or too many.
Unfortunately, our politicians are sounding like shills for the snake oil salesman who attempt to charm us into believing no drastic changes are necessary. They twist the reality into syrupy phrases that go down more easily. I understood one pundit went so far to say that Newt would make a better president because he had at least three women who loved him at one time or another.
SHE SAID: The comic, “Doonesbury,” raised an interesting point about which wife of the primary candidates would make the best “First Lady,” an obvious jab at Newt and his third wife who was his mistress for many years. Why do the same party members who reviled ex-President Clinton for his escapades tolerate Newt's choices? Regardless, it is hard to get excited about races where it is the same old white guys running for office.
HE SAID: You might expand your list to include rich guys. Almost everyone running from both parties and in Congress are millionaires. They have the money, so now they want the power to go with it. So much for representative democracy. It would be nice to starve out the “free radicals” or reduce their damaging impact by revamping how money is raised and spent for elections. Not a likely proposition with all the fat cats feeding off the big money diets.
SHE SAID: It's enough to make me lose my appetite for more. How about you?
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The Skinners believe we all have the power to make the lifestyle changes necessary to be healthy if we believe we can and if we support each other to make the changes. They can be reached at jlajtls@bresnan.net.
Campaign organizers believe the Republican primary circus will make their candidate the toughest guy on the block so he will be unbeatable. It's amazing how they are attacking each other without restraint. The fact that the Republicans running for office cannot agree on some common ideas and plans underscores why we, as a nation, are having trouble finding common grounds for solutions.
SHE SAID: I have a possible allegory that could apply to this problem. Another national struggle is our health. Our bodies are natural recyclers. Autophagy or “self-eating” describes the process by which our body rids itself of surplus, worn-out or malformed cellular scrap. Those cast-offs fuel the rest of the body.
Exercise and lean diets can speed up this recycling which researchers are finding can aid in fighting disease and slowing the process of aging. Free radicals, oxygen-rich molecules, can be created in worn-out mitochondria. These free radicals are found to be one of the driving forces of aging.
Our nation, much like an unhealthy body, has created an abundance of “free radicals” or individuals and groups that wish to over power or destroy anything to which they take exception. As a result of their ignorance, these battles are destroying the nation. To bring back health, both economic and political, these rogue cells need to be educated or starved out. We do that with lifestyle changes. Instead of conducting political races the same way, or distributing the wealth in the same way, we need to make changes in the indulgent lifestyle of the past. We need to trim the excesses and extras, exercising our minds and wills to rejuvenate both our bodies and government.
HE SAID: I met recently with people who are much smarter than I who discussed the economy. Most agreed we need to have fewer excesses. None had a simple answer like balance the budget, or create more jobs, or spend more money. The solution isn't just cutting taxes, or taxing the rich, or paying more unemployment. One accountant said he is telling his clients that we all have to cut back, retrench and learn how to handle the much slower growth predicted for our future.
That is sound advice, just like exercise and a strict diet. However, politicians are not calling for us to do the individual economic exercises that we all need to help us survive. They want us to spend more to help the economy, but the debt that creates is just like the “free radicals” that our body creates — poison to the person who has too much or too many.
Unfortunately, our politicians are sounding like shills for the snake oil salesman who attempt to charm us into believing no drastic changes are necessary. They twist the reality into syrupy phrases that go down more easily. I understood one pundit went so far to say that Newt would make a better president because he had at least three women who loved him at one time or another.
SHE SAID: The comic, “Doonesbury,” raised an interesting point about which wife of the primary candidates would make the best “First Lady,” an obvious jab at Newt and his third wife who was his mistress for many years. Why do the same party members who reviled ex-President Clinton for his escapades tolerate Newt's choices? Regardless, it is hard to get excited about races where it is the same old white guys running for office.
HE SAID: You might expand your list to include rich guys. Almost everyone running from both parties and in Congress are millionaires. They have the money, so now they want the power to go with it. So much for representative democracy. It would be nice to starve out the “free radicals” or reduce their damaging impact by revamping how money is raised and spent for elections. Not a likely proposition with all the fat cats feeding off the big money diets.
SHE SAID: It's enough to make me lose my appetite for more. How about you?
-------------------------------
The Skinners believe we all have the power to make the lifestyle changes necessary to be healthy if we believe we can and if we support each other to make the changes. They can be reached at jlajtls@bresnan.net.
